System and method for managing and providing vehicle maintenance

Abstract

A method for managing vehicle maintenance information set to utilize information obtained from a vehicle owner and a vehicle service provider to alert and educate the vehicle owner and the vehicle service provider about recommended maintenance scheduling, specific vehicle parts and repair requirements, vehicle diagnosis information, vehicle service history, real-time inventory management, vehicle maintenance costs, and scheduling of vehicle owners for vehicle maintenance at the maintenance facility. The system may coordinate the vehicle's maintenance information with the vehicle service provider and the vehicle owner through the use of various communication technologies and novel methods.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method to interact with a user and a customer, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a portable electronic device of a customer, a mileage of a vehicle at an electronic computing device communicatively coupled to the portable electronic device over a network;   advising, based on the received mileage of the vehicle, of a need to schedule vehicle maintenance, the advising performed without customer interaction; and   scheduling a customer selection of calendaring items for maintenance of the vehicle, the calendaring items including at least one of a date and time and at least one of a maintenance bay and a technician.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 displaying graphically, using customer data, at least one of previous maintenance dates and future maintenance dates.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 representing graphically, to the user, occupied maintenance times.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 representing graphically at least one of a need for vehicle maintenance and services needed.   
     
     
         5 . A computer-implemented method to interact with a customer, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a portable electronic device of the customer, vehicle maintenance data relating to a diagnosed problem of a vehicle by an onboard diagnostic system;   analyzing, at a centralized computing server, the diagnosed problem; and   transmitting, to the customer prior to customer arrival at a maintenance facility, an analysis of the diagnosed problem of the vehicle.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , the method further comprising:
 storing, into a customer database, the vehicle maintenance data.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , the method further comprising:
 facilitating, to the customer prior to customer arrival at a maintenance facility, a digital communication to the customer indicating whether the vehicle is in a safe operating condition.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , the method further comprising:
 transmitting, to the customer prior to customer arrival at the maintenance facility, a price quote to fix the diagnosed problem of the vehicle.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , the method further comprising:
 receiving, from the portable electronic device of the customer, a scheduled maintenance appointment to fix the diagnosed problem of the vehicle.